Source: well.blogs.nytimes.com
UNITED STATES, April 5, 2010: The surprising results new study find that today’s parents are spending far more time with their families than their parents’ generation did.
The study, by two economists at the University of California, San Diego, analyzes a dozen surveys of how Americans say they use their time, taken at different periods from 1965 to 2007. It was found that both mothers and fathers, especially those with a college education, were spending significantly more time with their children by 2007 than they did pre-1995.
“It’s taking them to school, helping with homework, bathing them, playing catch with them in the back yard,” Erik Hurst said a co-author of the leisure-time paper and economist at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. “Those are the activities that have increased over the last 15 to 20 years.”
[HPI note: At this article’s original source, the most viewed comment read: “While time may be increasing, I’m not so certain quality time is on the rise. How often do parents plop their kids in front of TV and watch a show with them rather than doing a learning activity such as making a craft or playing a game? I guess car time could be considered quality time…but not when kids are given Gameboys to preoccupy their attention.”]